| Where: | Hull, East Yorkshire at Pickering Road Community Orchard on PIckering Road |
| When: | Sunday in early-mid January |
| Time: | Usually 12 noon but sometimes 2pm (see Helpful Hints) |
The Community Orchard at Pickering Road was founded as part of the NHS initiative to encourage people to eat their 5-a-day ration of fruit & veg and each year they hold events that tie in with the turning seasons. They host a tradtional wassail in January to thank the trees for their past bounty and to encourage a fruitful harvest in the season to come. Cider is poured onto the roots and toast placed in the branches for the robins to enjoy. Expect a Master of Ceremonies to lead the way accompanied by drummers, Raving Mae Morris dancers, wassail songs and Duncan the Obby Oss.
Helpful Hints
Refreshments, composting toilet and disabled parking are available onsite and the event is free of charge. General parking is on Pickering Road with access to the Orchard from Cranberry Way. All are welcome and it’s very family friendly.
The wassail is held around the second weekend in the month and lasts around half-an-hour. In 2024 it was on Sunday January 14th at 2pm – 2025 details are yet to be announced and will appear on the Facebook link below.
In cases of extreme weather the event may be postponed so if in doubt double check before setting off.
The orchard has 350 fruit trees and is run by volunteers who make fruit juice during the harvest, which is August to November. Visitors can sponsor the orchard by giving a donation and in return they receive a share of the apple harvest.
To contact the organiser email : ygrindley@yahoo.co.uk
You can find the Orchard’s Facebook pages here : https://www.facebook.com/Pickeringroadorchard
and here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/141585735857437/
For the Raving Mae’s page click here : https://www.facebook.com/theravingmaes
Thanks to Yvette Grindley for the photograph and for drawing my attention to the event.
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